Wondering on Wednesday (v147)

Random noodling around tonight; we'll see where it takes us. There's certainly a lot going on out there to wonder about.

Do you wonder, listening to president Trump talk about Hurricane Florence, whether he's actually taking credit for her being the biggest one ever to hit the east coast? You hear him talk about his thinking, and that of other really smart people, and I honestly sense a little bit of pride there.

HAHAHA, Obama - take that!  My storm's way bigger than any of yours. Sad! Haahaha. And my hands too....hahahaha! It's going to be a fantastic disaster!! 

Sticking with the president, raise your hand if you have any idea what the president must have been thinking about when he gave a double fist pump and an angry sneer upon arriving at the 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania.  Personally I think he's terribly unphotogenic, and I think there have to have been more than a few purposefully bad pics of him published since he started his campaign, but here's the thing: you can't be photographed doing a double fist pump as you arrive at a memorial service if you don't do a double fist pump as you arrive at a memorial service. 

I'm wondering, for all you party-registered NY voters, if your phones are ringing off the hook with recommendations for tomorrow's primary, or if it's just me? For example, I had three phone calls from the Communications Workers of America -- my retired husband's union - in 12 minutes. Seriously. And they're calling me, not him, because he's an Independent and can't even vote in the primary for governor. I've had law firms calling to tell me to vote for a specific judicial candidate, and former judges calling for the same race, but a different person.

I've had calls on the Attorney General's race, the governor's race, my state senator - it's a battle royale I tell you.  Anyone willing to hazard a guess on the gubernatorial primary? Will it be the Sonofa Gov, incumbent Andrew Cuomo, or maybe the angry activist, former Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon? Or maybe Syracuse's former mayor Stephanie Miner, who's running as the representative of a new party?

Speaking of Nixon and Miner, should one of them overcome massive odds to win the primary, she would become the 16th woman with the chance to become their state's governor. I wonder who would have thunk that? Even more remarkable, according to the Barbara Lee Family Foundation,

There are currently six women governors, and the most we've ever had serving at one time was nine. Over the course of US history, only 39 women have eve served as their state's governor. Compare that to over 2,300 men.

I wonder if this will be the time the tide turns?

And finally, sticking with politics for the close, NY's 24th congressional district is a mess again, with boatloads of out-of-district money flooding in, like always. The incumbent John Katko is running snotty TV and radio ads during the lunch hour and the dinner hour, daily -- and we've got almost two months until the general election? I don't know about you, but I'm wondering of what he's afraid?

Wondering on Wednesday (v137)

Well, here we are, a Wednesday again, and we're talking and wondering about immigration, and separation of parents and children, and lots of other things, too.

As you likely have heard, the president used that horrible power, the Executive Order, to attempt to end family separation, the ugly outcome of his administration's ill-thought-out zero tolerance policy of arresting and detaining everyone who tries to cross our southern border illegally, instead of giving them an appearance ticket and letting them go, with their children, to either appear as requested or to run and hide.

Why did the president blink, you wonder?  I'm pretty sure he was looking at the revolt within his own party and his base - heck, even his fixer, Michael Cohen, let him have it on this.

As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart-wrenching. While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips. 

The handwriting was on the wall, and the hand-wringing was going on behind closed doors, and on the Sunday shows, and there was that horrendous press conference in which the DHS secretary seemed blissfully unaware (or else she was 'Hucakbeed') of the position of the DOJ, the Chief of Staff and everyone else in the administration -- so I really think he had no choice except to blink, and use the Executive Order -- something he promised not to do - to do something he said was impossible, not up to him, and not his fault.  And now, everyone has to figure out how to get out the mess into which they got themselves. And that's a whole nother post entirely.

There was a bit of good news for the president, though -- he'll get to meet the Queen in July when he goes to London for a working visit (not a state visit) in July. In case you're wondering how that's going to be received, here's a sample from lawyer/commentator Peter Stefanovic:

In the last 3 days president Trump has backed the caging of children, talked of migrants 'infesting' the country, withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council, made repeated lies about crime in Germany and we are honoring him with a visit to Windsor Castle to meet the Queen.

Not so warm and fuzzy, right?  Well, maybe he'll get the adoration he seeks at a rally in Minnesota, who knows.

What else am I wondering about tonight?

Well, on the local front, the battle to see who will go up against Congressman John Katko is coming to a close, with our primary just around the corner. The candidate of the organized Dems is Dana Balter; the candidate of the national Dems is Juanita Perez Williams, notable around here primarily for her loss to Independent Ben Walsh in the race for mayor of Syracuse.

About this race, I wonder how on earth much money the national Dems and their supporting funders are going to invest in this race? I honestly think I get at least two mailings for JPW every 7-10 days.  And they're not convincing me of anything, to be honest - because I don't want Washington anyones picking my candidate, and I want my candidate to represent me, not the people who are pulling the strings.

And, Walsh's predecessor Stephanie Miner has declared her candidacy as an independent, to face either her one-time ally, NY's Sonofa Gov Andrew Cuomo or Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon on the Democratic ticket, and Dutchess County exec Marc Molinaro on the Republican line, in the race for governor of NY.

What is she thinking? That's something we're all wondering, to be honest. It's late in the game, Cuomo has tens of millions in his account and is moving further to the left with each passing day to counter Nixon, and Miner's tenure as mayor did not really work out as well as anyone had hoped. Her motivation, like Trump's with his about face on the family separation issue, may remain a mystery.

And finally, tonight, something that I've been wondering about for a couple of days now - has ABC News meteorologist Ginger Zee ever reported from the Bridge formerly known as the Tappan Zee?

Grains of Salt (v27): Rise Above

Grains of Salt

Today, inside the Landmark Theater instead of on the steps of City Hall, Syracuse's new mayor had his public inauguration.

Independent Ben Walsh's inauguration marks a change for the city of Syracuse: we have a non-major party mayor for the first time in a century or so. Walsh, the son of a Republican congressman, grandson of a Republican mayor, got elected with a lot of Democratic support.

He also had the support of many local developers, with whom he worked as deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development and executive director of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency in the administration of Stephanie Miner, our term-limited former mayor.

Walsh ran as a collaborator, someone who can and will work with his local, state and federal counterparts to advance the interests of city and her residents. We've seen that before, when Miner first got elected and immediately began working with County Executive Joanie Mahoney. That relationship soured, irrevocably, but that did not sour the voters on the prospects of someone new who was willing to do the same thing. 

In his inaugural comments, Walsh highlighted his optimism, because "Syracuse is a strong city that stands on a solid foundation... a diverse community that only weeks ago voted to set its differences aside and work together to create an even better future...(and) because we have strong support for our city across the region and the state."

After challenging everyone to participate in our city and our government, he shared some information about his transition team, which focused on four areas: poverty and economic opportunity, education, safety and neighborhoods, and city finances.

Lifting people out of poverty will be the single biggest challenge we confront together, and it will be central to our agenda over these next four years.  A segregated city that concentrates wealth in some places and poverty in others is not a modern, progressive city. We must rise together...

 Education and the condition of our schools is another critical issue facing our community. Together we will push our graduation rate from just over 60 percent today to 70 percent, then 80 percent and beyond until we can be counted among the best urban school districts in America... 

We must also improve our neighborhoods and make our streets safer for all of our citizens...(my Quality of Life Commission) will be...focused on beautification of our streets, gateways and business districts; addressing nuisance crimes that destabilize our neighborhoods; and enforcement of ordinances using data and metrics to prioritize neighborhood services.

And he specifically talked about policing, which was a hot issue during the campaign.

...we will put more officers on the street. But we must go beyond policing. We need to build relationships between our officers and our neighbors and we need a police force that reflects the rich diversity of our community. 

Walsh admitted during the campaign that, if needed, he would consider a tax increase. He didn't mention that today, but he did talk about a few things we can anticipate.

...I will hold a Fiscal Summit in partnership with the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. We will convene our city's anchor institutions, business leaders, the banking community, as well as county, state and national leaders - and we will tackle our challenges head on..

My administration will partner with business owners and developers...encourage investment and new jobs in the city... be intentional and work together to ensure success is enjoyed in neighborhoods throughout our city.

He closed his remarks on the same theme with which he began - optimism.

The challenges we face are not different than those faced by other cities, big and small, in America... we will follow an inclusive and engaged approach to government. We will think and act independently and in non-partisan ways. We will operate a city government that is humble and aware of its responsibility to serve. And every day, we will work to earn and maintain your trust. 

There is no problem too big to solve as long as we Rise Above. No reason to stop us from fulfilling the promise that Syracuse's best days are still ahead of us.  

Rise above is exactly what our city needs to do. I'm excited by the prospect of this new administration, and hope that Walsh and his team can get us back on track. We'll have a lot to talk about, I'm sure, as his administration gets its legs and starts to really dig in.

Grains of Salt (v23): Primarily Thinking

For those of us in New York today, September 12th is primary day. Here in the city of Syracuse, Democrats had a big decision to make: we had a three-way race for mayor, which is unusual.

Regardless of today's primary outcome, there will be at least four candidates on the ballot for the general election: a Democrat, a Republican, a Green, and an Independent. It's possible the Democrat could also be on the Working Families line, but it's not guaranteed - meaning, we could have five in the general. It's a mess this year -- an interesting mess, for sure.

At the beginning of the campaign season, I believe there were seven candidates vying for the Democratic Party's designation to succeed Stephanie Miner, our current term-limited mayor. The one who ended up winning the designation had run unsuccessfully four times before, including in 2009 when he lost in a primary to Miner. The other remaining candidates are the current city auditor, and the former chief lawyer for the city.

I admit I took longer than usual to make my decision, and I'm not sharing it here, of course, but I do want to share a couple of observations.

First, I always take advantage of the opportunity to sign a petition; I've signed for people who are not my favorite, over the years, to try and ensure had a choice. This year, no Democrat petition carriers came to the house - or if they did, the didn't manage to do it when we were home - and work from home several days a week. I waited for calls, I waited for door knockers and door stuffers, and nothing.

I ended up signing a petition for the independent, exercising my right for the only person who seemed interested. And then, I never heard from him again - for weeks and weeks, I heard nothing. And, when I thought I had finally heard from him, the mail was actually for my husband, who's registered as an Independent.

I got lots of mail from the Democrats, the three that stayed in the race. (I think I got more from the candidates for City Court Judge than I did for the mayoral candidates).  I would say the volume of mail favored the former corporation counsel more than the repeat candidate. I answered polls about the race a couple of times, happily offering my honest opinion on a scale of one to seven, one being most favorable (or maybe seven was most favorable, I can't remember).

Last night, around dinner time, I answered the phone and spoke with a nice gentleman who wondered if I planned on voting today. I answered yes, and he asked me if I was going to vote for his candidate. I answered that I was not sure yet what I was going to do. He sounded surprised -- shocked, actually - - and then simply encouraged me to vote. I promised I would and almost as an afterthought, he asked if I needed a ride to the polls. I told him we were set (we usually walk) and he said "OK, remember to vote" and hung up.

I held the phone in my hand after he hung up, wondering why on earth he didn't even try to convince me to vote for his candidate. He didn't ask why I was undecided, and didn't ask if I wanted more information. He just said "Candidate A is a great person," as if that alone was enough of a reason for me to vote for A.

This afternoon, we voted. I was number 80, which is actually pretty good for a primary at my polling place. When my husband and I arrived, we joined three other people in line, and the election workers noted that we five had formed the longest line of the day.

Tonight, two hours before the polls closed, I received a robo call from the former corporation counsel, reminding me it was primary day, and offering me a number to call if I needed a ride to the polls.

And now, as I finish this post, polls are closing across the city. It's going to be interesting to see who ends up winning; whether that person will have the support of their vanquished opponents; and whether the will of the party is strong enough to quash two insurgents.

As a friend of mine has asked, haven't Democrats learned anything in the past couple of years? Are we going to splinter and faction ourselves out of City Hall?  Let's sit back and see what happens.

Grains of Salt (v21): Challenges for Syracuse's Next Mayor

Grains of Salt

Republican Laura Lavine, the unanimous choice of her party's committee members.

Democrats Alfonso Davis, Marty Masterpole, Andrew Maxwell, Joe Nicoletti, Juanita Perez Williams, all of whom might stick around for a primary. (Maxwell was first to my door with information, which was the impetus for this post.)

Party-less Ben Walsh, the first in the ring, but without a party choice.

It's likely that one of these folks will be the next mayor of Syracuse, since Stephanie Miner is term-limited and done at the end of the year,

Syracuse faces a number of challenges, some of which have been our challenges for a long time:

• Roughly half of the property in the city is owned by educational institutions and non-profits; these entities are not obligated to pay property taxes, but fully use city services. Over time, the city has negotiated service agreements with some, but not all, of these property owners.

• The city has somewhere in the neighborhood of 1800 vacant properties of all types - single family homes, multiple family homes, apartment buildings, commercial properties -- it runs the gamut. Some of them are 'tax current', but many are not. The Greater Syracuse Land Bank, through purchasing and reselling homes, helps generate almost $750K in property taxes annually. (I've written about the Land Bank previously, including our very positive experience with their efforts on the house next door.) Not all buildings can be saved; way up the street from me, three or four houses in a row were recently taken down, as was one a block or so up the road. I prefer the empty lots to what was there before, even as it pains me to say that; I'd much rather have a lived-in city, rather than one full of large stretches of driveway ends, going from the road to the sidewalk, showing us what once was. 

• That's another one of Syracuse's challenges: people leaving the city, stretching our population further and further, eating up more and more green space, leaving the city a shadow of her former self, and doing the same to the rolling hills and farmland that surround us. I get that people have the choice to live where they want, to build where they want, to sell their land when and toom who they want, even if it's to someone who's going to put up a development of half-million-dollar houses. I do get that. I just have long wished that people would make the investment in the city, live in the city, would stake their claim in the city, and help it thrive.

• And without people, without families, it's that much harder for our Syracuse City School District (SCSD) to thrive. We have made progress, it seems: we now have a Superintendent, Jaime Alicea, who knows the city, knows the students, knows the lay of the land, and who seems to have support from all constituencies.  Graduation rates for the SCSD  as a whole are the highest in a decade, although still lower than anyone would like. With a higher percentage of  English as a New Language (ENL) learners and special needs students than most of its area counterparts, the city has different challenges than suburban schools, even as its students are required to meet the same standards for gradation.  Another big challenge the schools face is poverty.

• We've all seen statistics and more statistics: Syracuse ranks 29th out of the 30 highest poverty major cities, and we had the highest concentration of black and Hispanic poverty in the nation. The poverty is undeniable, and it's probably higher than that. Similar to the 'real feel temperature' the 'real unemployment rate' we hear - numbers designed to make us feel worse than we do, there's 'official poverty' and 'real-feel poverty' the kind that kids and families feel every day, even if they don't meet an official threshold. And the fact that we actually maintain statistics for people going up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level, well that says something in and of itself, doesn't it?  

• Poverty impacts everything - absolutely everything. For the individuals living in poverty, it can negatively impact their physical and mental health, educational outcomes, employment opportunities, future income, and, for many, the ability to break the poverty cycle for future generations. For the rest of us, it impacts our property values, the services our city can offer, and it impacts our 'social psyche', our pride of place, our sense of our home.  It impacts everything. 

Our next mayor, regardless of party, will have his or her hands full with these and other issues, including our aging infrastructure (a victim of all of the above) and the potential for/threat of consolidation via the Consensus plan or our Sonofa Governor's 'convoluted' plan to allow county executives to run roughshod over their constituents by unilaterally bringing consolidation plans to the ballot. 

Syracuse deserves a leader who is up to all of these challenges. It will be interesting to see who our choices are, and how they plan on rising to the occasion.

 

The Update Desk: Grains of Salt (v8)

Back in May, I talked about the Onondaga County DA-for-Life William Fitzpatrick and his head-scratching, head-spinning decision to open an investigation into Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner's administration.

The reason for the investigation? Fitzpatrick thought the Mayor was trying to influence public opinion against a local developer in a lawsuit. COR Development, once a local success story, went around the city's development agency to the county's development agency, got a tax deal, and the mayor was not happy. She sued and lost, but Fitz - not known to be a fan of the mayor or her police chief, for that matter - wanted to protect us from any undue influence from a politician.

He is one - a politician, of course -  and one who is not shy about trying to influence public opinion either in his official capacity as DA, or in his political capacity as, say, a member of our Sonofa Gov's Moreland Commission on ethics, or as, say, a boss getting involved in employment matters in his office.

Anyway -- back to our investigation,which one judge called a "fishing expedition": seems it's over, and there will be no findings or indictments, or even a report that we'll ever see, it appears. Here's the update from the local paper last Thursday:

A politically-charged investigation by the Onondaga County district attorney looking for misconduct at Syracuse City Hall has fizzled out without producing any allegations of wrongdoing.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick's investigation of Syracuse Mayor Miner and her political allies produced no criminal charges or reports of malfeasance. 

According to the article, the Grand Jury records have been sealed, so we will likely never know for sure what happened, nor will folks, including at least two common councilors, officially have their names cleared.

That may be enough for Fitzpatrick, but is it enough for the elected officials? And is it enough for city taxpayers? Or County taxpayers who ultimately paid for this investigation?

No comment from Fitz, or from the Mayor.

Grains of Salt (v10): Can I Get a Lyft?

A recent Post-Standard editorial supported bringing ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft to upstate New York.

The benefits, including being able to pull up an app and see where the drivers are and what they look like before making a decision on which ride to take, are appealing to many, including travelers who use these services in New York City (the only place it's legal in New York, natch) and other places around the country and around the world.

The editorial mentions some "legitimate concerns" such as background checks ("not as thorough as they need to be"); the drivers, who are independent contractors not employees, having "to sue to get basic workplace protections" and a sometime lack of accessibility for wheelchair users, which can be filled by "specialized services already in place in Central New York."  And there is the issue of insurance, which the state legislature failed to resolve before the end of session.

The State Senate did pass a bill, however the Assembly did not do the same, effectively killing these services for at least a little longer.  Some concerns were the ones addressed in the editorial, and of course there's always the downstate Dems vs. upstate Reps that is claimed to be at the root of all evil in the legislature.

The Senate bill would have allowed each city, town or village to pass their own regulations, which could add even more clutter to our already messy under-the-back-stairs-closet patchwork of regulations that make it hard for businesses to know how to legally do business here.

And, of course, the whole thing about the 'gig' economy, as I heard the application-based business model called, is that it's not encumbered by all of the regulations that a bricks-and-mortar business has to navigate -- I mean, that's what makes them attractive to the entrepreneurs who get involved with them, as well as to customers who appreciate the simplicity of doing business with these firms.

The editorial also noted that upstate politicians, including Stephanie Miner, Syracuse's mayor, "embrace Uber and Lyft for the jobs (emphasis added) and transportation options they bring." Those jobs may very well come at a cost to existing jobs, as Syracuse has a number of taxi companies currently serving the area, employing who knows how many drivers for the big companies, as well as the many who appear to be independent contractors.

Furthermore, Syracuse has regulated rates, from the drop charge (the initial charge that's on the meter before the taxi pulls away from the curb, currently $2.80), the per-mile price (currently $2.50), and, for airport taxis, the flat rate zone price to get from Hancock International Airport to downtown, the University, to my house here in The Valley, or anywhere else.

And, don't forget the licensing fees, renewal fees, and the limitation on the number of ground transportation licenses that can be issued in the city, currently 200 plus whatever is needed for the airport.

Would all of the current rules and regs that apply to taxis apply to ride-hailing companies? Would the number of licenses be expanded to accommodate an unknown number of entrepreneurs, those jobs the mayor and others are looking forward to? Would the same rates, metering and other rules apply?

I'm all for expanding opportunity for people who want to work in, or take advantage of, the emerging app-based market. What I'm not in favor of are special rules that apply to some businesses but not others, as I've pointed out in prior posts (including here, here and here).

All hail Uber and Lyft, as long as taxi companies are allowed to participate on a level playing field. And it probably wouldn't hurt to eliminate some of the regulatory burden on the taxi companies, whether we Uber and Lyft or not.

Grains of Salt (v8): Fitzing Around

Onondaga County's DA-for-Life, William Fitzpatrick, is investigating Syracuse's City Hall and Stephanie Miner, our term-limited mayor, for allegedly attempting to influence people's opinions against a tax deal for a developer who has been given exclusive rights to make the Syracuse Inner Harbor pretty.

Miner prefers that developer candy baskets include specific hiring requirements for city residents, among other things, and defends (too fiercely, many think) city territory on these deals. The mayor challenged this one because COR Development, the company in question, went straight to  the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency  instead of to the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, because they anticipated a friendlier reception - and they got one.

Miner sued, saying that COR promised not to seek a PILOT on the Inner Harbor project; the judge didn't buy it, and tossed her lawsuit. Fitzpatrick is investigating to see if there was undue influence by City Hall on legislators or other witnesses, or on public opinion generally. (Note that there was apparently some attempt to influence, as noted by the discovery of a letter to the editor that was 'signed' by five religious leaders, some of whom were surprised to see their names in the paper. Comically, or sadly, all of the local judges recused themselves from the case.)

COR Development once had close ties with Miner, and has a connection with the mayor's husband and his family; the company still has close ties with OnJoanie Mahoney, only the third county executive in Onondaga's history, and perhaps the last, depending on what happens with the Consensus Commission's recommendations to merge government functions between the city and the county.

It was this same developer who was in on the plans to build a half-a-billion-dollar stadium for Syracuse University - in the city - and we know that the plan was not discussed with the mayor in advance of it being announced, and eventually was not given the green light. The property where the stadium was to have been built remains basically undeveloped by COR at this time; all of the grand plans for the Loguen's Crossing development pre-stadium debacle have not yet been realized, nor has any real intent to act on them, as far as anyone knows.

The developer is also huge supporter of our Sonofa Governor Andrew Cuomo, giving a couple hundred thou to his 2014 campaign, and benefiting by having millions of dollars in contracts associated with the Sonofa Guv's gimmicky economic development programs around the state come their way. That includes right here in our own back yard where they have - you guessed it - exclusive rights to develop things like the 'nano-center' where we have a movie production studio generating some jobs, and a new LED lighting manufacturer which will bring in a few hundred more.

Those deals came about through COR's relationship with the Gov, er I mean through their interactions with the SUNY Polytechnic Institute. SUNY Poly is heavily involved in the "Buffalo Billion" project, a shining star in Cuomo's portfolio of economic successes.  Parts of the Buffalo Billion, including SUNY Poly, and people associated with it, including a very close former aide to Cuomo, are currently being looked at as part of the ongoing investigation of US Attorney Preet Bharara into politics and ethics in New York.

Bharara, who has already gotten convictions of both former NY Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and former State Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, has made it clear he's not stopping his investigations even if the Governor's ill-fated and "totally independent" Moreland Commission to investigate corruption in NY's government was nipped in the bud when it apparently got too close to Cuomo, his donors, media partners, and so on.

I say 'apparently' that's why it was nipped in the bud, because pretty much everyone thinks that -- reporters, Bharara, and most New Yorkers, except maybe the members of the State Legislature; they're glad the Commission is out of their hair, and I don't think they care why.

One person who doesn't think that, though, is Fitzpatrick, who was one of the three co-chairs of the Commission (OnJoanie was also a member) and who suggested in emails that were uncovered that "the Second Floor" (the Sonofa Guv's home base in Albany) needed to understand what "independent" meant. Many people took that as suggesting at least some level of meddling, but apparently that was not the case.

Because the Commission asserted in court papers that it was fully independent, only a couple of months before it was unceremoniously shut down by the Governor, who pretended that his objectives on ethics reform were met through the budget negotiation process. Bharara noted that the shutdown didn't really pass the smell test. He ordered the Commission to preserve all papers and then, a few months later, let people know he would not take kindly to attempts by the Second Floor to influence any of the now former Commission members into painting a rosy picture of things when that was likely not the case.

And who was one of the Commission members who made glowing statements about the independence of the Commission, noting that no one can push him around and make him drop something he was interested in looking at, oh no siree?  None other than our very own DA,  Bill Fitzpatrick.

Heads spinning as we try and sort out this plate of spaghetti, we're Fitzing around here in Syracuse, fingers pointing, accusations and denials flowing like wine, he saids and she saids and who remembers and who signed and who didn't and who told on who and, frankly, for what?

Absent a smoking gun in Syracuse's City Hall, I would be confused as to how the Mayor's attempts to influence public opinion about a tax deal are really any different than Fitzpatrick's attempt to influence public opinion about an independent ethics commission?

They're both elected officials, speaking to constituents (many of whom don't like them) about things that any number of their constituents don't like or don't believe, and about which many people couldn't care less.

Do we want honest politicians? Of course we do. Do we want to uncover corruption? Sure we do. Would it be better if the person doing the investigating was not someone who has long-standing issues with the folks he's investigating? Of course it would.  Is that likely to happen here?

Nope.

Quick Takes (v2): Implosions

Quick Takes 

Yesterday, the Grandstand at the New York State Fairgrounds here in Syracuse was imploded, to make way for a new RV park, part of our Sonofa Governor Andrew Cuomo's move to revitalize the Central New York economy.

Cuomo's $50M plan to turn the site into a year-round venue and an economic development draw for the area, was of course supplemented by the building of our new seasonal OnPhitheater (formally known as the Lakeview Amphitheater), another $50 million project that, by design, will cause people to either skip the Fair entirely, or leave it for a period of time, to attend Grandstand-level concerts off-campus during the Fair's run in late summer.

And, with the destruction of the Grandstand and the one-mile dirt track, so ends the car and horse racing at the Fair; constituents of those activities are left with only their memories, as are attendees of concerts at the Grandstand. The racing events that used to be held at the Grandstand may both eventually be held at the CNY Raceway Park, a multi-use 'need for speed' venture underway in Hastings, up in Oswego County. (Note: I'm not including any links to the Raceway Park, as more than a few take you to obviously fake sites that immediately ask you to download software of one sort or another; I encourage you to be cautious.)

Here's how the implosion activity was described in a local media report:

The push of a ceremonial plunger ignited 268 explosives at 260 different locations on the Grandstand, sending more than 5 million pounds of steel and concrete crashing to the ground.

The Gov himself was here for the demolition, further cementing his relationship with our County Executive, OnJoanie Mahoney.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and County Executive Joanie Mahoney attended the event and pushed the plunger together, along with a small group of friends. 

Ah, love.

Mayor Stephanie Miner was not in attendance at the implosion; rather, she was holding a press conference with US Representative Paul Tonko (D-Amsterdam), in which renewed calls for federal investment in local infrastructure were made. Some might say she was furthering the implosion of her relationship with both Joanie and Andy. This comes, of course, because of her well-known disagreement with Cuomo on state funding for these projects and her involvement with Building America's Future, a group that lobbies for infrastructure assistance for localities.

To put the Cuomo/Miner rift into simple terms, the Governor believes you can lead a horse to water.

He (and OnJoanie as well) are all about the kind of government assistance that makes people want to participate in something; a nice RV park will draw more visitors to the State Fair, for example, or a makeover will cause users of Penn Station (which he has declared bleak, dark and ugly) to feel better about their experience there, and about New York at the same time.

Miner, clearly, thinks there should be potable water there when the horse arrives.

This could be another long year.

Grains of Salt (v2): This Does Not Compute

A little bit of this and that, from Syracuse and Central New York.

Back in July, the administration of Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner blocked the Common Council from using the city's computer systems, because the Councilors did not sign the city's new computer use and access policy.

Is anyone surprised that they're still fighting about this?

The policy, which seems similar to the one that many of us who work in the business world sign, is designed to 'encourage' good computer use, discourage personal use of taxpayer assets, and help ensure that the systems are safe from malicious activity.  For example, it discusses hot-button issues such as:

• preapproval of software and hardware used on the system
• protection of trade secrets
• limited confidentiality (administrators can access what you do)
• FOIL and legal discoverability
• passwords are not to be shared and need to be changed regularly
• non-usage rules (porn, love letters, political campaigns, games, solicitations, streaming websites and the like)
• access, including only accessing what you're supposed to
• safeguarding the equipment
• an anti-retaliation provision

While the policy had been in place since 2013, this year was the first time that folks were asked to formally sign and agree to the policy. They had two months to take the momentous step or face the consequences.

One of the issues with the policy, from the Common Councilor's side, is that it doesn't include any provisions for elected officials - everyone is considered an employee, and subject to the same rules, requirements, and oversight.  And that last word -- oversight --is the one that really has everyone up in arms. Here's what the policy says:

Please be aware that City computer, device, and system activity, including but not limited to files accessed, email, and Internet activity may be monitored at any time.  All personnel are advised that the City possesses and may utilize at any time, activity monitoring software capable of capturing keystrokes and screen shots of a member's computer, device, and system activity. Activity reports may be furnished to the user's Department head. 

What this all means, from the Council's perspective (and the City Clerk's perspective, as he's also a non-signer) is that Mayor Miner can have the city's taxpayer-supported IT Department spy on the taxpayer-elected representatives, preventing them from being able to have confidential conversations with city employees, constituents, attorneys, and the like, or that she will make life miserable for them in some other way, shape or form because - well, because she can.

And so since July when many Councilors refused to sign, we've been watching the legal tab run up while they tried to get things worked out. In September, six of the Councilors announced that they were going to pursue a second lawsuit against the city (the first having been thrown out on a technicality) and are authorizing up to $25,000 on top of the "thousands" they've already spent, and on top of the $7K or so that the City has already spent.

That lawsuit was approved by a 5-4 vote.

Folks, this is ridiculous.

Lots of people chomp at the bit when asked to sign policies like this. But for everyone to have their panties in a knot at the thought that the City can fire Common Councilors who misbehave or misuse city assets is nuts.  Stephanie Miner must know she can't do that. The Councilors know she can't do that. Taxpayers know she can't do that.

Equally, everyone knows that the relationship between Miner's administration and the Council -- heck, with lots of people -- has not always been the best. I have friends who I likely can't even pay to say anything good about her -- so it's also understandable that the Council would want some separation between the two sides, and I agree their should be separation.

Even given that, the fact that they can't get out of each other's way to solve this, after several months, is silly.

More importantly, the inability of the two sides to negotiate something as seemingly simple as this does not bode well for their ability to lead us forward. One possible solution would be to have the City Auditor own monitoring the IT policy as it applies to the Council and any other elected officials, and issue an independent report to taxpayers annually(or as issues arise). To me, that makes more sense than the Council investing you guessed it - taxpayer dollars -- to 'Clintonize' the situation and get their own server. There are likely lots of other ideas out there, if anyone was interested.

All politics is local, they say - and if this is the example our local leaders set, it's no wonder people choose not to vote. If we want that to change, we need situations like this to change. It's time for everyone to get over themselves, solve this problem, and get back to work.

Making Lemonade

A million times, I think I've heard the old saying "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade."  Well, I think we have a chance to do that.

Below is the email I sent to the Home Builders & Remodelers of CNY, Mayor Miner's office, and Common Councilor Helen Hudson, asking them to consider tackling a 'rebuild' project in Syracuse this fall, since the Parade of Homes has to be postponed until next summer.

The article mentions that the HBR is looking into doing some other event, and I hope they'll consider my idea (or part of it, or something similar).  After all, among the objectives of the organization is this:

to bring together the best and most reliable industry associated businesses, for the purpose of raising the bar of professionalism and customer service, and moving towards the goal of affordable housing for everyone in CNY. 

I have long maintained that a Parade of Homes in the city, not with brand new houses, but with a similar economic investment, could completely transform a neighborhood.  Pulling together all of the many resources available here, from the HBR to the Land Bank  to the myriad branches of government and even local organizations and businesses would be a challenge, but the reward - a renewed neighborhood, increased tax base, and a chance for existing homeowners to benefit as well - should be worth it.

Here's hoping that this time, with a basket full of lemons, we get enough lemonade to go around.

I read on Syracuse.com this evening the unfortunate news that this fall's Parade of Homes at Cranebrook is being delayed until next summer because site work could not be completed timely. 

 As we know, many people look forward to the Parade each year, most for decorating but some for the opportunity to get their dream home. And I know the charities that staff the volunteers for each of the Parade homes may also feel the pinch with the delay. 

Appreciating that, I would say that while this is a setback, perhaps it's also an opportunity to follow the old adage and make some lemonade out of lemons.

 Could this be the chance we've been waiting for to connect the HBRCNY and the City of Syracuse, not in traditional 'Parade' sense, but through a blitz rebuild Parade?  A chance of a lifetime for an urban neighborhood?  A chance for people to shine who usually don't get the spotlight? 

I encourage you to read my blog post on having a Parade of Homes in the city -- not on the outskirts of the city limits, but smack dab in the heart of the city, in a city neighborhood that could use some help and attention. A neighborhood like Skunk City. 

I think this could be a great opportunity, with the creativity, energy, and know-how that the Home Builders, City Hall, and Common Council can bring to the table.  

Thanks for your consideration.  

Stay tuned.

Hotel Syracuse Transferred to Developer

YES!  Whoo hoo!

AB Drummond photo, July 2013

Today, according to published reports, the City of Syracuse (through the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency) seized the abandoned Hotel Syracuse and transferred it to developer Ed Riley's Syracuse Community Restoration Company 1, LLC.

Why is that worthy of fireworks?

Well, SCRC1 is the company that's going to redevelop our grand old lady into a shining new old lady, in a $57 million project that was announced a while back.

I've preached about the need to get the Hotel out of foreign hands and back into the hands of  local folks who actually want to do something with it. In January, Syracuse's mayor Stephanie Miner made a point of calling out the Hotel Syracuse project as a priority in her State of the City speech.

In announcing the deal today, Miner noted that

Today is a major day for the Hotel Syracuse and the redevelopment of Downtown.  There is much work left to be done to make this long-held dream of may into a reality but this is a big step in a major transformation.

Today, I'm happy to give up my claim to one of the old gargoyles - I'd much rather have the Hotel, thanks very much. Let's hope that this truly is the start of something big!

Hell Hath No Fury... (Part 1)

...like an economic development project scorned.

There's been a flurry of public hand-slapping in response to the opinion expressed by SU professor David Rubin that Syracuse is getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Governor Cuomo's economic development handouts.  County Executive Joanie Mahoney (in part 1), former City Auditor Minch Lewis (in part 2), and State Assemblyman William Magnarelli (in part 3) have all chimed in.

Now I'm going to.

Rubin noted in his column, A Tale of Three Cities, that there seems to be quite a difference in what's happening in Buffalo and Albany compared to what's going on here in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Personally I didn't think the column was negative (although it did have a bit of sting). I agree with Rubin, looking at the Buffalo Billion particularly, that it seems we're not being offered (or else we're not taking advantage of) similar opportunities.

Rubin chastised Mahoney and Cuomo, as well as some members of the Common Council, for the stadium plan, and supported Mayor Stephanie Miner in her decision to say no. He also had some thoughts about the 'replacement plans' for the development along the west side of Onondaga Lake, with the amphitheater being the centerpiece of the project.

All of Rubin's attempted wit or sarcasm aside, even if  Mahoney disagrees with him, which she does, strongly, is this really the reaction you'd expect from someone in her position?

Public service is not easy...I think I speak for many when I say the abuse we take when we put ourselves out there to help our communities is annoying. The negativity is loud and you are just one of the many naysayers who stand back and throw stones from afar. Instead, why don't you pitch in to help? If you think you have ideas worth considering, why don't you throw your hat in the ring and get involved? Your column has caused real harm, not only to Syracuse University but to our entire community. I think you owe an apology to the members of the City council you insulted, to the Governor, to your employer and our entire region for your irresponsible words...

Those comments came at the end of her scathing reply to Rubin; here's the end of his response to Mahoney:

I am a columnist. Columnists and journalists "get involved" by asking questions, stimulating debate, and adding to the marketplace of ideas.  That is our role in a democracy. I would of course serve Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse in other ways if asked. I have never been asked (and I guess that option is now pretty much dead)...

I'm hoping that she at least cracked a smile at that last part. At the same time, I wonder what wrath might rain down upon my head for being a citizen with an opinion?

How exactly did Rubin's column cause real harm?  His words did not bring about the end of the stadium deal; nor did they cause any businesses to pack up and leave, nor did they likely scare any businesses away from coming here. In his commentary,I don't think he exposed a single fact or opinion that can't be found in a casual review of comments in any local media outlet's discussion forums. Truth be told, he was much kinder and gentler than many of those who comment anonymously.

His words will not have any impact on the proposed project for development on the west side of Onondaga Lake.  Those plans, considered visionary by some, are actually reflective of all of the ideas that have been tossed around since the 1920s. I'd suggest that the inability of government, businesses, and civic leaders to get a plan implemented over the past eight or nine decades, as well as changing winds of fortune, the global economy, free trade, climate change, rock and roll, and Miley Cyrus have done far more real harm here and elsewhere than Rubin's words earlier this month.

And those words certainly haven't damaged SU's reputation in any way. As the home of the Newhouse School,  SU should support not only Rubin's right to express his opinion, but also understand that not all of their 1,100 or so full- and part-time faculty would agree with the plan to move out of the Carrier Dome and into a challenged area of the city. I suspect many of the 21,000+ students and thousands of alumni - or current ticket holders for that matter - also weren't consulted and might also express disapproval, if given the forum Rubin has.

We can't all be politicians, but we are all entitled to our opinions. And in my opinion, throwing stones at someone for throwing stones is, well, kind of silly. I'm glad Rubin didn't apologize; had he, I wouldn't have accepted it.

I wish that Joanie Mahoney - someone I've supported in every election where I've had the opportunity - might consider apologizing to him and the rest of the people in this community who, like Joanie, have staked a claim here and who, like Joanie, want to make this a better place to live.

Consensus Commission Gets a Pass

There's a whole lot of government going on, going on -- if not a whole lot of governing -- in New York State, that's for sure.  At last count, there were around 10,500 separate jurisdictions, according to Governor Cuomo in his State of the State address. That includes counties, cities, towns, villages, fire districts, water districts, sewer districts, district districts...

Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney mentioned consolidation in a live chat on Syracuse.com last week. Here's what she said.

Consolidation is a hot topic and we are talking on many fronts. Parks is part of that discussion. County parks are one of the things we do best in county government and if we can help the city or towns and villages, we want to. The discussion has been about an inter-municipal agreement and we are in the early stages. Ryan McMahon and Bob Dougherty are the two leads at this point.  Food for thought: We have (State Senator) John DeFrancisco, (Assemblyman) Bill Magnarelli, Ryan McMahon, Stephanie Miner and myself as former city councilors. It seems like as good a time as any to talk about how to do this in a way that protects everyone.

A state senator, a state assemblyman, the mayor, the county executive, the leaders of the county legislature - seems like they could figure something out, doesn't it? So then, why do we need the Consensus CNY group, which I learned about reading an editorial in The Post-Standard?

Here's what caught my eye:

The commissioners visited with the Editorial Board last week. We intend to hold them to their promises of real results. We urge them to be bold. Listen to the naysayers, but ignore the ones who put their self-interests above the community's. We urge them to include new voices in the discussion, not just the same old arguments from the usual suspects. 

Consensus commission? Are you wondering what the heck that is? Here's the explanation in a recent article.

So local government officials are teaming up with leaders from business, labor, schools, and neighborhood groups to figure out how to shrink the layers of public bureaucracy in Onondaga County. The group, called Consensus, plans to use the bulk of the money to hire a consultant. They plan to meet once a month and report their findings within the next 12 to 18 months.

The group, which was announced towards the end of January, already has a slick website, which identifies  the members (many of the names are familiar ones) and also the partner organizations, including Syracuse 20/20, CenterStateCEO, Focus Greater Syracuse, the local chapter of the League of Women Voters,  the Onondaga Citizens League, and the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of CNY.

Right off the bat, I'm confused. Why on earth would these high-powered civic leaders, wise businessmen and women, all these community organizations need to spend 'the bulk of" the $250,000 state grant that Senator DeFrancisco helped get, on a consultant to try and figure out what to do?  Isn't 'figuring out what to do' pretty much the mission of these organizations, some of which have been around since the 1990s, or even earlier?

And CenterStateCEO?  Heck, this organization itself was born from a consolidation: the merger of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and the Metropolitan Development Association. When I see that they're part of a group that is going to spend a quarter-million dollars on a consultant, I'm left scratching my head, because I think they already know where to get the analysis done. Check out this snippet from the Message from the President on their website.

In a knowledge economy, smart regions prosper. CenterState New York is rich in intellectual resources, with the third highest concentration of colleges and universities in the nation.  In this region, there are 35 campuses educating more than 138,000 college students and conducting more than $2 billion in research and development annually.  

Uh, how about we tap into those colleges and universities, where we have people with no particular skin in the game, and send their best and brightest out across the county to come up with ways to solve our problems, as part of their course work?  Maxwell School anyone?

You don't have to go too far to find examples of where what we have today doesn't work well. For example, to the west, we find one fire department that has filed suit against, well, pretty much everyone: the town, the town board, the village where the fire department is located, the village trustees, the neighboring village, those village trustees, their volunteer fire department, their village fire department, another neighboring fire district, that board of fire commissioners, and their fire company, the second village's ambulance company, and Onondaga County. Had there been any reasonable consolidation in this neck of the woods, there likely would not even be a lawsuit.

And to the east, we have another village that, in the face of an almost 22% tax hike, is again trying to garner enough support to abolish the village police department and sign on with the town police. This was defeated a couple of years back, but that was before the tax hike. In the same village, on the other hand, the fire department is hoping to split off from the village, and - wait for it -- form their own district, which is the exact opposite of what's needed.  But imagine how this could look, if village residents were willing to consolidate or share police services with the town,and be better positioned to make a decision on their fire department.

Something's got to give, somewhere, somehow. Because, as the editorial noted, Onondaga County has 15 villages, 19 towns, 16 police departments and 55 fire departments. We have more heavy rescue trucks (40) than New York City (5), when we have 7.5 million fewer residents. This is no way to run a rodeo.

Frankly, I think the editorial board went easy on the Consensus commission; I'm surprised they're satisfied with it taking another 18 months or so to come up with a plan - and that's just the first step. Instead, I would have loved to see some encouragement to get this figured out faster, using readily available resources from within our knowledge community, and make something happen quickly.  Because either we figure out a way to consolidate and share services, or some of our Rubik's cube of jurisdictions may have to stop offering services all together.

When it gets to that point, will people look back and say, boy, I wish we had worked slower on this, and hired more consultants?

Onondaga Lake: All Our Old Ideas are New Again

D. Lassman/syracuse.com photo

Is your head still spinning from the Sonofa Governor Bus Tour through Solvay and Geddes last week?

Do you wonder what on earth is going on with plans for 'economic development' in the CNY area,  now that Andrew Cuomo and Joanie Mahoney are BFFs, or at least BFFAW (best friends for a while)?

I can assure you I'm afflicted by both the spinning and the wondering. I mean, how do we go from a half-a-billion downtown stadium project to a tenth-of-a-billion outside-the-city lakefront development project so quickly?

To a certain extent, it's because JoAndrew (like Brangelina, get it?) are people of vision, who are not afraid of bold ideas, and who like to work quickly. And we've learned they also share an affinity of talking first to the people who they're sure will agree with them (or can be cajoled into agreeing with them), and sometime after that, talking to other people must of us would to be key stakeholders.

You know, like Andrew did getting the SAFE Act pushed through (with many perfectly acceptable provisions, I might add), but without the support of most law enforcement officials in the state, or many of the politicians who are charged with being the voice for their constituents. And like Joanie almost did when she tried to put a huge project in Stephanie Miner's backyard without talking to her about it.

I remain supportive of the mayor's position that anything worth doing is worth doing right -- and I believe that's true for the lake project as well.

Here's what JoAndrew have proposed:

• $50 million for a 17,000 seat amphitheater overlooking the lake
• $20 million to develop 'future business sites', including brownfield cleanup
• $10 million for senior housing and encouragement of other housing in Solvay
• $14 million ($7 million each) for improvements to Bridge Street and 'main street' work in Solvay
• $3 million to complete the mixed-use trail around the lake
• $1.8 million for roadwork at Milton Ave and Bridge Street, and street-scaping on Cogswell Ave
• $1 million grant money for new business development in a targeted area

There's also some money for water taxis to go from the Inner Harbor to the newly developed area. Those would likely see use quickly, assuming someone jumps at the chance, because Mahoney believes the amphitheater will completed in the fall of 2015 (apparently after the summer concert season, and assuming no delays).

The county is already on board for $500,000 for studying the plan, coming up with a design contest or something, and for $2.5M in annual contributions from our anticipated gambling deliverance (another deal done the Cuomo way, vis a vis the negotiations with New York's casino-owning Indian tribes.) And Cuomo included $30 million of the total plan in his 2014 budget, part of over $5B in borrowing he's proposing.

I haven't seen anything on who will manage the amphitheater, and think it's more than a bit murky as to how this will impact the State Fair across the street, and it's 17,000-seat, grossly-underused and poorly-managed grandstand. Here's Cuomo on that question; it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

I don't know if it will replace the Grandstand. But this project, the amphitheater component of it, will no doubt enhance the State Fair. And it'll be another venue for the State Fair and it'll make the State Fair much more competitive on entertainment events.

Uh huh.

So, how do these plans stack up against some of the other stuff that was dreamed up in the past? Well, back in November 2012, there was a fantastic article written by Paul Riede that recapped some of the ideas that have been proposed over the years for Onondaga Lake.

And by "over the years" I mean going back to the 1920's, folks.  We've been at this a LONG time. Take a look:

• Bathing beaches, fishing and canoeing; horse trails; playing fields and crew races; an aerodrome and aviation school at Lakeview Point (proposed home of the amphitheater), and a seamless connection between the Fairgrounds and the lake, all of which would draw "thousands of Onondagans and hundreds of thousands of tourists". ~ Joseph A Griffin, chairman of the Boulevard-Parkway Committee, 1928.
• An 18-hole golf course, restaurant, and recreation area at Lakeview Point; an aquatic stadium and theater (for watching sports and other events)' a botanical garden; parade grounds; baseball and football fields, and more development on the north end, including beach, bathhouse, playing fields, etc. ~Madigan-Hyland engineering company report, 1952.
• A seasonal performing arts center (again at Lakeview Point), along with a floating natural history and environmental center, a water-sport training and activity center (capable of accommodating US Olympic teams!), and access to these venues by water taxi. ~Onondaga Lake Development Plan, a joint effort of the MDA Foundation, the State's Urban Development Corp., the county Industrial Development and the City of Syracuse, 1991.
• A 150,000 square foot expo center, complete with indoor waterfall; a hotel; a restaurant tower rising 400 feet above the lake (the OnTower, like the Oncenter?), and room for more cool stuff (waterpark, 'Agriworld', which I'm guessing is some sort of farming/amusement thing, and a rodeo), all predicated on getting rid of the wastebeds at, you guessed it, Lakeview Point, so that the Fairgrounds and lakefront could be better connected. ~Michael Nowak, late local architect, 2000. 
• Re-routing I-690 to the other side of the Fairgrounds, or depressing it (similar to I-81 on the north side) and using overpasses to connect the Fairgrounds to the lake, making room for parks, a hotel and  restaurant, and a year-round mini-amusement and theme park.~ Syracuse Waterfront Revitalization Plan, 2000.
• A world-class 18-hole golf course on the southern shore of the lake. ~Bob Congel, Syracuse developer and master of the economic development money game,  2002.
• Hotel, theme restaurants, marina, parking and office buildings on Lakeview Point; offices in the Harbor Brook area (also on the west side of the lake) and a wind farm and vineyard on some of the other wastebeds. ~O'Brien & Gere, 2005. 
• A $450M giant hotel -- 640 feet tall, over 1,300 rooms - designed to be the tallest building outside of New York City. ~Congel again, in 2007. 
• A 600-foot wide strip of land across the lake at the southern end, with a shop- and restaurant-lined road down the center, which would form an area for fishing and boating piers; a 200-foot extension of the lake on the southeastern side for the loop trail and residential development, and a Haudenosaunee museum. ~David Ashley, retired founder of Ashley-McGraw Architects, 2012. 

I'm not sure about you, but does all this "extraordinary" and "visionary" stuff sound familiar? 

Onondaga Lake/sue drummond photo

Seems we have a consistent problem, going back three generations or so: we have lots of ideas (or, it appears, the same handful of ideas over and over again), but we apparently don't have the money (or the stomach) for bringing those ideas to fruition. 

We've had citizens' groups and governmental agencies individually or collectively, we've had private developers and heck, even private citizens come up with plans.  And yet... here we sit, bold ideas in hand, all these years later, even as the sun shines down on the projected area of development, as it did in my picture from New Year's Day 2012.

Will JoAndrew be successful, where so many have failed?  Stay tuned. 

Pick up the Phone, Make that Call

The other day, in one of my posts about Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner's State of the City address, I mentioned the Greater Syracuse Land Bank.

As I noted, the Land Bank had taken ownership of the house next door to us, but I didn't have a lot of information on what that meant. I knew that the goal was so help increase property tax collection, and to help get abandoned properties back on the tax rolls, but other than that I didn't know much.

But first, a little bit about the neighbors.

When they moved out in December, what I'd call a less than optimal relationship came to an end. We sure didn't see eye to eye on the simple things that go into being good neighbors. There were many times during the years they lived here that the lawn was waist-high before they tried to weed-whack it into submission. And there was the time that their tree fell onto our garden; after discussion, it was agreed that we would hire the contractor and our families would split the bill, provided it was below a certain threshold. Suffice to say, I never got their half; rather, it was 'my fault' that I wanted the tree moved, instead of waiting for them to take care of it. In the winter, the sidewalk was either not shoveled, or shoveled in a path about six inches wide - and yes, there's a school three doors down.

There were days, no, weeks and months that it seemed like everything they owned was in the yard, in the driveway, on the back deck, or on the front porch. Their garbage cans and recycling bins would stay in the yard, or the road, or the middle of the sidewalk, for days on end.

And yes, in case you're wondering, we did mow, and shovel, and bring the trash cans in, pick up junk from the yard, and things like that, in a neighborly, non-confrontational way.

Sadly, if we hadn't seen them move, it would have been hard to tell that they did. From our house, we could still see their front porch cluttered with broken furniture and other debris; the rug that had been haphazardly thrown over the railing of the back deck a few years back was still there, frozen now; and a healthy supply of broken toys, tools, chairs, tables, and quite a bit of just general junk stayed behind.

Fast forward to yesterday, when I called the Land Bank office to find out what was going to happen with the property, and what the protocol was if we saw folks lurking or hanging out. Obviously we would call the police, but were we supposed to call the Land Bank office as well?  And were the former owners supposed to be around?  The answer to those questions were yes and no, respectively.

I also asked if there was any way the property could be cleaned up a bit; after all, it's a house that needs work for sure, but it's pretty unattractive with a swimming pool ladder in the side yard (the whereabouts of the pool remain unknown). Debbie, the woman I spoke with in the Land Bank office assured me she'd check into it and call me back.  Within 90 minutes, I got a return phone call, and Debbie let me know that she had spoken with another woman in the office who had immediately written up a request to have someone check the property.

Today, when we got home from work, everything was gone. Rug, pool ladder, broken toy hanging from the tree way out back, all of the junk from the porches, the driveway, the yard, behind the garage - everything. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a massive understatement.

The last time I tried something like this,I emailed then Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor and asked if the university might be able to help us combat violence in the city; within a matter of days, the SU Athletic Department made an anti-violence video that played in the Carrier Dome and as a public service announcement on the all the local television stations. This time, I asked someone to help make my neighborhood a little better in the near term, while they worked to find someone who would help make the neighborhood better over the long haul -- and they did.

Neither of these ideas come close to the rocket-science threshold; similarly,acting on them, by sending an email to SU's chancellor or calling the Land Bank office, didn't take a lot of effort on my part.

And that's the message here: we have the power; we just have to use it.

• If you see trash on the ground, pick it up. 
• If you have an empty lot or an empty house in your neighborhood, mow the lawn in the summer and shovel the snow in the winter.
• If there's a chance that a public servant might be able to help you out, ask them.
• And if you have an idea, share it.

I'm never going to have enough money to influence a politician or get face time with a famous educator or businessperson, but if I care enough to try, I might just get someone to help out.  

I encourage you to care, and to try. 

The State of Syracuse (Pt 4)

This is the last in my series on Mayor Stephanie Miner's State of the City (SOTC) address. I've based the series on some questions I had posed to the three mayoral candidates on this blog last September, thinking that if these issues were important to me then, they'd be important to me now. And they are.

In the first post, I addressed expanding downtown outside of Armory Square; in the second, I talked about our neighborhoods and crime, and in part three, I struggled with the issue of education.  Today, I'll look at my  last two questions: collaboration and 'the one thing' that a leader bring to the table.

On collaboration, I asked what the priorities were, and what action we could expect to see on them.  That question, in part, was answered in the mayor's comments on downtown expansion, including the partnership on the latest plans for the Hotel Syracuse, and again in the discussion on education, where she referenced the services offered to city families through the efforts of the city, county, and school district.   And then there's that stadium idea.

Yeah, about that stadium.  Collaboration is the key to any project of that size and scope, and the fact that the players decided to collaborate without the mayor is mind-boggling to me, particularly given the history of collaboration between Stephanie Miner and Joanie Mahoney.  I also appreciate and support Miner's comments last week in the SOTC:

The old-school mentality of chasing smokestacks and massive projects billed as the silver bullet saviors of the city is a failed ideology. True community revitalization comes from organic, diverse, authentic and sustainable development projects. 

Authenticity should be the watchword of how we seek to build up our city....While I am neither for or against  a stadium project necessarily, I believe that outstanding questions should be answered, and that we should be as thoughtful as possible about what could be a once-in-a-generation decision. To quote American inventory and engineer Charles Kettering, "A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved."

It's not too late to forge a strong partnership between the mayor, county executive, SU, the County Legislature, the Common Council, SUNY Upstate, and our state officials, including our mixed-message Sonofa Governor, who touted the Miner/Mahoney collaboration in his State of the State address, then did an end-around Miner on this project. An announcement on a task force is expected in the near future.

Other areas of collaboration?  Critically, the Route-81 project, which (until the stadium idea say the light of day) was to be our 'generational' development effort.  Miner is calling for additional cooperation from the NYS Department of Transportation.

The last year has seen robust community discussion, with the NYS DOT beginning the environmental study process for the project.  While many opinions have been put forth already, the amount and detail of information provided to the community by the State DOT thus far has been underwhelming. 

We need to be just plain old whelmed, not over whelmed or underwhelmed - with information, communication, participation, and all the rest of the 'tions' on Route 81's future.  The mayor should expect to be called upon to use all of her persuasive powers to ensure we have the information needed to help guide a decision, and once the decision is made, to ensure that we come out OK on the other side, regardless of whether that's up in the air, below ground, or barely scratching the surface.

And, we need continued efforts to get service agreements out of owners of our many tax-exempt properties -- some 50% of city properties.  It's not sustainable to expect the people of Syracuse to provide the money for all of the services given to those exempt property owners (primarily educational and religious organizations). And we're not talking inconsequential services here. The Mayor's done a good job and I would love to see more of the same going forward.

Finally, in closing her speech, I think she answered the last of my questions:  What's the one quality you possess that makes you the best candidate to lead Syracuse for the next four years?  Here's what she said, first referencing the Route 81 project, but about public service in general:

Let's make this decision a shining example of our creativity, our progressivism, and the richness of our city. 

Indeed, all that we do in public service today - all that we do as a community - should aspire to that ideal. I, for one, subscribe to the belief that what we do should be exceptional, should be of service to our entire community, and should rise to the creative spirit of the people who live here. 

Not that all of our decisions will get splashy headlines or garner national accolades.  Not that the work of government will always be particularly thrilling or dignified. But responsible leadership, the will to continue challenging the status quo, and the promise to make smart and tough choices, will point us to that brighter future.

You can credit the speechwriter if you want, but I think that's a pretty fair assessment of what we want our public servants to do for us.  

Are you in?

The State of Syracuse (Pt 3)

Last September, I also asked a question about education, wondering how our mayor would keep kids in school through graduation. I noted that graduation rates continued to be horrible even as we were making significant investments in facilities.

This, too, was addressed in Mayor Stephanie Miner's SOTC last week. Here's what she said:

There is perhaps no clearer pathway to opportunity than education, and Syracuse remains at the forefront of cities making unprecedented investments in our young people.  The groundbreaking Say Yes to Education program is in its sixth year, and the impact of Say Yes continues to grow.  It is well known that more than 2,000 graduations of our city high schools now attend college tuition free. There are 5,000 students in Say Yes after-school programs and another 4,000 attend tine Say Yes summer program. 

And she also pointed out that there are other services available to city families through a collaborative effort (city, school district, and county), with "school and family support specialists in all 35 city schools." They work on identifying and resolving issues with attendance and behavior, Miner noted, and they identify resources that can help these families.

Miner also noted that there will also be a phase two of the Joint School Construction Board (JSCB) program, after the first go-around let to significant renovations to several schools, as well as training programs for some 600 people.

Unfortunately, newly renovated schools and Say Yes programs are not enough to turn things around or, maybe we have to resign ourselves to having to wait longer for change to occur.  We have the new Common Core standards, and we have new evaluations in which a significant number of city teachers did not fare well, even though they may very well be fabulous teachers.

We have less than stellar results on the Report Card on file with the NYS education department (2011-2012 is the last available). We have issues with suspensions, which have drawn a lot of attention; over 23,000 hours of instruction were lost due to suspensions, according to reports, and over 55% of African-American students have been suspended at least once. These are horrible numbers, perhaps indicative of some kind of bias, and perhaps indicative of the reality faced in Syracuse city schools -- likely, some combination of both.

Statistics like this didn't happen overnight and the won't be changed overnight. These issues have to be addressed, not just by the Syracuse City School District, and the City itself, but most importantly by parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, whoever is the primary caregiver for city schoolkids.

The professionals can only do so much -- and I understand they're trying, with programs like the iZone, and Parent University, and the Great Expectations five year plan - but somehow, someone has to reach the parents, and the kids, and convince them that education is their best chance for the future.

And until we see some movement in graduation rates, I think it's going to be hard to say that we have a handle on this one. It may not be fair, but it's the primary metric of comparison between schools and school districts, and we're not faring well.

One more in this series - collaboration, and 'the one thing.'